LeBron James looks to keep Raptors under his rule: series preview

After a grueling 7-game series against the Indiana Pacers, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers face the top-seeded Toronto Raptors in the second round. Toronto’s own Tristan Thompson played a huge role in the win and it will be interesting to see if Cavs head coach Ty Lue sticks with him in the starting lineup. But there are several other interesting questions heading into this series.

Cleveland won the season series 2-1, with both wins coming after the momentous trades made by Koby Altman at the trade deadline. Both of them also came in Cleveland. Cleveland played only one game where they’ll begin the series on Tuesday night. The Raptors and LeBron can tell us a lot about what this series could be, but the film tells no lies.

After watching the last two games between the Raptors and Cavs, here are some things to look for in this series.

A Different Type of LeBron

Here’s a breakdown of how LeBron James has been used in the first seven games of the playoffs.

Almost every time that he’s shot the ball, it’s been his own creation in the postseason.

So, he’s usually worked in isolations, pick and roll, in transition, or the post. But things will be different against the Raptors. The Pacers were certainly athletic, but the Raptors are even more athletic. They have players who can pressure LeBron when he has the ball in his hands. And that’s why we will see a different type of LeBron, working more off the ball in this series.

LeBron had a forgettable game in the first matchup between the two teams back in January. It was also early in the forgettable Isaiah Thomas era. Nevertheless, the Cavs made an early adjustment to account for the youthful exuberance of OG Anunoby: give LeBron room to be a cutter.

Here, LeBron uses the aggression and inexperience of Anunoby against him to cut to the basket. Getting him working away from the ball is a regular thing the Cavs did against the Pacers. Here, instead of cutting, he comes off an off ball screen.

Will Ty Lue go back to Kevin Love at center?

For most of the games against Toronto, and for most of the games this season and postseason, Kevin Love was the center. But with the Cavs are coming off a crucial Game 7 win with a completely different look, it’s fair to wonder if they’ll go back to it. Tristan Thompson got the start at center while Love played power forward and LeBron James started at point guard.

And while the Thompson-Love frontcourt worked in Game 7, it’s worth wondering whether it’s the right call against Toronto’s Jonas Valanciunas. The Raptors are typically a better rebounding team with Valanciunas on the floor, one of the areas where Cleveland’s bigger frontcourt should shine. And just look at how hard Valanciunas has to work against Love. While Valanciunas himself has stretched his range out to the 3-point line, keeping up with Love is an entirely different task.

Lue will definitely go to Love at center. The questions that follow that is when and for how long?

When will the Raptors start Siakam?

This question is also connected to the question of Valanciunas.

Pascal Siakam isn’t a starter but it’s fairly easy to see that he is the best matchup for LeBron James in this series. With all due respect to OG Anunoby, LeBron has plenty of tools to deal with his energy and power. Siakam has that combination, plus length and a pretty strong IQ. And that begs the question, when will the Raptors just go with Siakam as their full-time starter?

The NBA’s matchup data is a little suspect, but watching the last two games, Siakam’s length and athleticism is likely the best matchup for LeBron. In addition to that, if the Raptors go with Siakam and Anunoby, they can probably get away with switching the Love-LeBron side pick and roll they love to use so much.

It’s like supercharged version of what the Trail Blazers have with Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless. Switchability, versatility and athleticism. Those are a few of the team traits in which the Cavs already come up short. If the Raptors can exploit Cleveland’s weaknesses they’ll be in a very good position to get the Eastern Conference Finals.

LeBron has had his way with Toronto in the past, but this team has a lot of different tools this time around. If used correctly, it could be the difference.

We’ll have a better idea of how Toronto and Cleveland will attack each other after the feel-out round of Game 1. We’ll talk to you after that one with more adjustments on both sides. This one is going to be fun.

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